Czech Republic
Overview and recent developments
The Czech Republic has a well-developed regulatory impact assessment (RIA) process including mechanisms for quality control through the RIA Board operating at arm’s length from the government. All draft primary and secondary legislation prepared by the executive has to be accompanied by a basic overview of impacts; a full RIA has to be carried out for those drafts with new and significant impacts. The quality of RIA could be improved especially in terms of quantifications of impacts.
The Government Legislative Council is an advisory body to the government overseeing the quality of draft legislation before it is presented to the government. One of its working commissions, the RIA Board, evaluates the quality of RIAs and adherence to the procedures as defined in the mandatory RIA Guidelines, provides assistance to drafting authorities if requested, and issues opinions on whether draft legislation should undergo a full RIA. The RIA Unit of the Government Legislative Council section of the government co-ordinates the RIA process within central government, provides methodological assistance and issues guidance materials for the RIA process.
All legislative drafts submitted to the government are published on a government portal accessible to the general public. It is obligatory to conduct consultations within the RIA process and summarise their outcomes in RIA reports. There are, however, no compulsory rules specifying the length or form of such consultations. The Czech Republic should standardise the public consultation process, stimulate stakeholders including the general public to contribute to consultations and be more proactive in engaging with stakeholders sufficiently early.
The Czech Republic was among the first to launch a programme on reducing administrative burdens. Cutting red tape is still a priority for the government, however, contrary to many other countries, the focus has not yet been widened to other regulatory costs. Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of existing regulations takes place usually on an ad hoc basis and is used rather rarely. The Czech Republic has published guidelines on ex post evaluation for officials, though they are still considered as voluntary but should be made more systematic in the future.
Indicators presented on RIA and stakeholder engagement for primary laws only cover processes carried out by the executive, which initiates approximately 45% of primary laws in Czech Republic. There is no requirement in the Czech Republic for conducting consultation or RIA to inform the development of primary laws initiated by parliament.
Notes: The more regulatory practices as advocated in the OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance a country has implemented, the higher its iREG score. The indicators on stakeholder engagement and RIA for primary laws only cover those initiated by the executive (45% of all primary laws in the Czech Republic).
Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Surveys 2017 and 2021, http://oe.cd/ireg.
Requirements and use of regulatory management tools for EU-made laws: Czech Republic | ||
|---|---|---|
The government facilitates the engagement of domestic stakeholders in the European Commission's consultation process ▲ | ||
Negotiation stage | Requirement for Member State to conduct stakeholder engagement | |
Use of European Commission's stakeholder engagement results ■ | ||
Requirement for Member State to conduct RIA | ||
Use of European Commission's impact assessment ■ | ||
Use of European Commission's ex post evaluation results | ||
Transposition stage | Requirement for Member State to conduct stakeholder engagement | |
Use of European Commission's stakeholder engagement results ■ | ||
Requirement for Member State to conduct RIA |
| |
Use of European Commission's impact assessment ■ | ||
Specific assessment of provisions added at national level beyond those in EU directive is conducted ■ | ||
Use of European Commission's ex post evaluation results | ||
Results of domestic ex post evaluations of EU directives/regulations shared with the European Commission ▲ | ||
Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG) Survey 2021, http://oe.cd/ireg. | ||
For all EU directives/regulations/ ■ Always/ ▲ Yes
For major EU directives/regulations/ ■ Frequently
For some EU directives/regulations/ ■ Sometimes
Never/ ▲ No